I attended classes at Vassar in the earlier part of summer. The subject was America, and the world. Two professors and a highschool teacher gave lectures on the history of the United States. Most of the information I knew but I did learn alot. We watched several films. The Motorcycle Diaries (which I had already seen), Hotel Rwanda (which I had already seen), Fog of War which is a documentary on Robert S. Mcnamara and Fail-Safe a nuclear war film.
I came to realize even more strongly than ever how primitive all war is. It's like two people throwing stones at each other. But instead of 2 people its more like millions.
I felt stronger in this conviction after Vassar.
So I then went to a christian bible camp after this. I have been going to this camp for a long time. I got "saved" there when I was nine.
It was a different experience there because I now worked there instead of being a camper. I liked it much better.
I had a boss and I worked maintenance. I lawn mowed and picked up heavy objects, manual labor. My roommate was a guy from Brooklyn, you could tell how much his environment affected him. He holds a "don't trust anyone" mentality. We discussed and argued about God, the Bible, Christ, Christianity in general for hours. We had a morning Bible study with my Boss (a true christian). This man had to do everything by himself that we (the maintenance staff)did there.
Although we had a morning Bible study we found ourselves discussing the bible all day.
In one of these 4 hour discussions, the issue of evolution came up. From what I learned here, Evolution has the evidence. I voiced that to them, I said "I accept that the theory of evolution has the evidence, but I choose to believe the scripture on faith alone". I got in trouble for saying that. They kept asking for proof. I tried to think of examples I've heard here but I couldn't think of any. They said a lot of "creationist rhetoric". I felt lost. It got to the point when they started to question my christianity. My roommate said something like Jesus loves you or something and asked me a question but I didn't here what he said. They persisted to tell me that God would give me the answer and I got angry but then someone came in and interupted the discussion and it was over. I tried explaining that Abraham and Moses may have been heavily influenced by Mesopatamia, that Abraham was influenced by that culture and the creation myths are very similiar. They questioned the fact that there could have other cultures, it was inconcievable.
In another group when I was in a similiar evolution debate someone (a leader at the camp) said "What good is Science?" I said "Science is medicine, it increases the quality of life." He questione if medicine is necessary. That's when I said "If it was up to you people, addressing everyone there, you could go about living and believing the world is flat."
Was I sensing a recession into the Dark ages?
I STARTED TO FEEL LIKE A WAS LOSING MYSELF. I began to speak less eloqently, I began to forget reasons for why I believe the things I do.
In the same discussion I tried to explain tolerance. That we should be tolerant to all other faiths. A wrote a paper that is in possession of my Global teacher on the similarities between Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity.
It is unbelievable how many things are exactly the same in these faiths. There are quotes right out of the Tao that say the same things that the Gospels say.
I've studied it. Lao Tzu, Jesus Christ, and Siddhartha Gottama preached the same thing except fr one aspect. Christ also preached love. That is the only difference between the three.
My boss wasn't that extreme, he didn't say they were all evil. He did say Buddhism was bad though, that it teaches people to become God's.
I didn't say this but look at what Jesus said:
Matthew 5:48
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
I've studied the major religions and they are all beautiful.
I said this to them:
"I was a christian before I studied the major religions and I was a christian after"
Some of the new friends I made at vassar happened to be Muslim. They told me that in their final day Jesus comes down as it says in Revelation.
I said Allah is God.
This mention of Islam brings me to the main point of my post.
I got in an argument with a christian that dresses in quaint, old fashioned clothing. She supports George Bush. I tried letting her know about how America is corrupt and that war is wrong and the Iraq war is for America's interests not the interests of human beings.
It got to the point where she was saying I was brainwashed and "programmed by Vassar College. She was homeschooled and I regret saying what I said next. I rudely told her she needed a college education. When I believe school is not for everyone.
As I said that a man stepped out of the building we were near, he sat across from me at the picnic table. He is a fundamentalist Militant Christian and the guest preacher for that week.
He called me out on my rude comment, I didn't apologize. He started saying the most outrageous wrong things I have ever heard.
His claim to fame (for me) from the previous year was this statement:
"God blesses the scopes of the soldier that kills the enemy".
He said Islam is evil, a religion and a people bent on world domination. He says it says so in the Quran. I knew it was a lie.
He stated he was a Reagan Republican, I asked him to be a Jesus Christian.
He said I was brainwashed by vassar college too.
He said Sudddam was a bad man that needed to be dealt with.
I said he caused destruction because the Reagan administration decided to sell him chemical and biological weapons.
Through all this the statements that really pissed me off were these.
"Muslims hate Christians"
"What if God told Bush to do this"
"The Crusades were justified"
"All other religion is evil"
These statements were reiterated through a friend I respected much more highly, he was my counselor at this camp for a few years.
This preacher put a saw up to my neck to relay a point. Not malevolently I don't believe, but things were heated.
The climax of this interaction was at the staff devotionals that night. I stayed later obviously. We were blowing up on eachother, saying neither of us had any facts.
I said he was misrepresenting Jesus Christ and his facts which he gets from NetWorldDaily and CBN were wrong.
He was trying to make me believe that My God is a god of war.
I almost lost my faith that night.
He quoted Exodus 15:3
"Our Lord is a God of war"
I knew in the back of my mind in context it wouldn't make sense.
We closed with Exodus 15:3, he had one. A year of not reading the Bible can make you lose to the biggest fool sometimes.
He beat me with my own religion.
I knew he was wrong though.
I sat down, that night, now it was almost 1:00, I started at Exodus 15:3. I was right. It was a song being sung by the Israelites after God drowned the Egyptians.
The Israelites were wrong.
I kept reading. I read many unethical verses summed up in 3:
Exodus 21:23,24,25
23And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
It almost seems.. There is a different moralty of the God of the Old and New Testament.
I then turned to Jesus and found my God:
Matthew 5:38,39
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:43,44,45,46,47
important:
"pray for those that spitefully persecute you"
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
So I cam to realize that all war is unjustified, that all war is sin.
The preacher and his wife tried saying "that's different, that's between individuals"
But what is the difference?
What the difference between two people hating eachother and millions?
The difference between two people killing eachother and millions?
It's primitive.
It's primitive.
All war is primitive, and basic and unjustified.
To say that Jesus Christ condones war is blasphemy.
He didn't mean a literal sword.
He didn't bless the centurion for being a soldier.
My God is not a God of War.
The christian God is not a God of War.
But I see this movement. This angry movement.
A movement to kill all enemies. To kill all that are not christians.
To justify sin.
I saw it in the preacher, in my former roommate, in my former counselor.
My roommate and I got into a heated argument as we were working. He voiced a militant christianity. I spoke to him of revolution.
We both disliked Bush. He did because he lived it. He lives in the city where there pushing the poor out. He showed me a political emcee named Immortal Technique that spoke of the horrors of America, particularly this current administration, some things he said I was blown away by, his flow was so nice and he spoke truth, he said things i didn't even know in regards to the evil of the MEDIA and the administration.
Well anyway, like Che Guevara we both decided a revolution was necessary. he spoke of using force and guns like Che did. I saw glimmer of violence in his eyes and it scared me. He's a big intimidating guy, tall with a scar from a knife on his face. But that's not what scared me. What scared me was his mentality. Violence and death was sometimes justified in his mind.
That's what we argued, if christians should use violence to convert others he said yes. I said "what get's more converts, converting with love or converting by force" He said force. I let him in on a discussion we had here, how some believe that missionary work is exploitation. He questioned my belief for saying this. Even though i said I didn't believe it was. Iwas trying to give him various opinions.
But this is what scared me the most.
He referenced scripture in which Jesus whipped someone for going into his house or something.
He said in one of the gospels Jesus whipped someone.
He bet me money it was true. 5 dollars.
I said it wasn't but I almost doubted myself, which is ludicrous but I didn't bet him. At almost the same time we both realized Jesus never did that it seemed. Still he insisted I show him verses of why Jesus does not condone war.
I showed him Matthew 5 and he knew the truth.
It's a disgrace that christians do not harp about Jesus's love and rather they harp on heaven and hell, to scare people into believing. I believe you should believe in Christ by his love alone.
I might promote to not convert by mentioning heaven and hell but by sharing the Gospels.
I remember reading a parable (if someone can refer to its exact spot I would be grateful) in which God sent an angel to douse the fires of hell and destroy heaven so that you would believe in God alone.
This movement of militant christianity is growing out of a basic miseducation of who Jesus was and what he was about.
My main points:
God is not a God of War
The Christian God is not a God of War.
Tolerance of other faiths.
Education of other faiths.
There is beauty in Animism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism.
This message has been edited by Chris Porteus, 08-08-2005 04:37 PM
This message has been edited by Chris Porteus, 08-08-2005 04:47 PM
This message has been edited by Chris Porteus, 08-08-2005 04:52 PM
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